Hen Zemi does not have its mind in the gutter. Oh no. You’re going to have dig a tunnel ten meters deep down that gutter before you might actually get the chance to stumble upon it. I mean, it’s not like Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: that series was just guns, sex and violence. This show really tries to get under your skin.
What makes Hen Zemi more than just another fanservice series? Its dialogue. Unlike just about every other fanservice series, this show has actually well written dialogue. Written by someone who has no sense of shame whatsoever. I mean, toilet jokes are one thing, but they usually are really simple one-liners. This show enjoys describing all of that in full detail. It’s this attention to detail that sets it apart from just about any other fanservice series.
Especially the middle part of this episode was hard to watch. These characters really could be your average romantic couple if you didn’t know about the context, but the two of them really spend 10 minutes just talking about breasts with a kind of sexual harassment that was just… disturbing given the way the girl totally freaked out.
In any case the two of them are the best characters in this series, because they play off each other the most. The way that the creators use the guy to completely destroy the innocence that the girl has. The third part of this episode was also quite good, but at times it felt like it was just perverted for the sake of being perverted.
Xebec is currently notorious for producing series with the IQ of a baboon’s backside. This is one major exception, but I do wonder how the heck the creators are planning to air this on TV anyway. I mean, this just doesn’t work when dumbed down; even the slightest censorship will just turn it into another toilet humour show with a lot of boobs, and the same goes when they unleash even guy from Xebec’s usual team of writers on the TV-series. We’ve got plenty of those already.
OVA Episode Rating: 8/10
EDIT: this is something I just discovered when looking up the staff list for the upcoming Spring Series. Like I said above: great care needs to be taken when adapting Hen Zemi into a TV-series. So of course Xebec puts the director of the OVA who did an excellent job of bringing the perversions and characters to life on the generic Sofuteni, and let’s the guy who is currently ruining Rio – Rainbow Gate be the director instead. Oh god, this show is doomed…
Oh….god…the director of Rainbow Gate working on Hen Zemi…
It is adapted from a manga though, so I guess the good dialogue comes from that. But still. Rainbow Gate director. This show is doooooooooomed
Kato Takao is a responsible director in my opinion. If the context has potential, he is able to bring it out and make it interesting, such as overdrive and pandora hearts. I really like overdrive, especially ep 13, directed by Kato Takao himself. It is unfortunate he is the one fall farthest behind while Xebec transfers to a moe/porn anime making studio. Although losing Kamitsubo Ryoki as the director has risk losing the charm of Hen Zemi, I am glad to see Chikaoka Naoru still remains as character design, and hopefully animation director of the show. His lively touch and Kamitsubo’s unique storyboard is the two biggest reasons made Kyo no Go No Ni (TV) one of my favorite comedies of all time.
Well, I’m never too happy with a change of staff myself, but I’m not sure you can blame the guy for Rainbow Gate being bad. It’s not entirely like he has a lot to work with there.